Hot Springs
by Bassair
Summary: Bellamy has noticed the tension in Clarke, the rigid line of her spine and the slight frown she wears when she thinks no one is looking, the wrinkle of her brow that says she has a headache. She needs a hot bath to relax into, and Bellamy takes it upon himself to find her something just as good.


**A/N:** I got all worked up over NaNoWriMo (I was on 21k with only a week to go!) so I took a quick break to write something for my new obsession. I hope you all like it! I'll probably write some more 100 fic soon, maybe Bellarke maybe some Belltavia but definitely more 100 fanfiction. Enjoy and wish me luck! (2k to go!)

* * *

><p>The Princess was stressed and tense, Bellamy could tell by the rigid line of her back and the way she held herself, every muscle poised like she thought if she released them for a single second the world might end (again).<p>

It wasn't like he _cared_, but the more tense and unhappy the princess was, the harder it became to run a functioning colony and, quite frankly, she was a drag to be around. It was like she never gave herself more than a second to relax, and he'd seen her rubbing at her shoulders and wincing, like she had genuine aches and pains, which she probably did since he was aware of the fact she never seemed to sleep soundly, or for more than a couple of hours at a time.

On the Ark, water was rationed, so quick showers were usually the best thing to go for, but whenever Bellamy's muscles ached or his day had been far too long, he'd liked to sink into a hot bath, compensating by showering on alternating days for the next couple of weeks. It was a treat, something that soothed his aches and pains and relaxed him completely.

"What are you looking at?"

"Nothing."

He wasn't watching her in any weird or _bad_ way, he just couldn't stop thinking that the princess needed to relax before she snapped and someone's neck went with her (although maybe she wasn't the type to snap into a murderous rage, maybe that was just him. Maybe.) and maybe he could provide that somehow.

Unfortunately he knew full well that if he suggested this to her she'd do one of three things: a) laugh in his face, b) think he was propositioning her, c) laugh in his face for propositioning her.

So it became, in his mind, less of a simple task of finding a way to get her a hot bath and more of a difficult one: figure out a way to both provide a hot bath _and_ get her into it.

The thoughts preoccupied his mind over the next few days, his eyes lingering on her tense shoulders and the wrinkle of her brow whenever she thought no one was watching. Hell, it looked like she had a permanent headache and there was a long list of reasons why that was wrong in his mind. She took care of everyone so well, but herself? Less so.

He started taking treks after a while, poking suspiciously at the map and trying to locate something he'd noticed on one of the other maps they'd seen. Supposedly there was a hot spring nearby, but he'd yet to actually locate it, and people were starting to get suspicious – if Jasper asked him _one more time_ if he was okay he was just gonna… well, not be – so he turned his treks into jogging trips, running until his legs burned and he had to double over, hands on his knees to catch his breath. He supposed it was a good thing anyway, really, after all if he had to run from grounders again – _again_ – soon, it'd be useful to be in shape. The last thing he wanted to do was hold everyone else up.

"Just trying to keep myself in shape," he said one day and immediately regretted it when the kid suggested _coming with him_. He wasn't entirely opposed to having a jogging buddy, but he wasn't really jogging for the sake of jogging, and if Jasper or the others found the hot spring before he did, his entire plan would go up in smoke.

It ended up a moot point anyway, since they only made it half a mile the first time before Jasper wheezed an apologetic, "I-I-I'm gonna h-head back and—" Bellamy didn't really listen to the rest, but he supposed it ended something like _collapse on my face and try not to die_.

Once Jasper was gone he jogged off again, doing a detour around a different part of the woods he hadn't explored before and pausing at the edge of a hiking trail. There was an old sign, mostly broken down, but it read _M-t-L-ge-o-ings _and if that didn't fill his heart – and aching legs – with hope he didn't know what did.

So he followed the trail, kicking up dirt as he went, and found an old lodge, completely wrecked, unsuitable for any kind of attempt at living in and ramshackle in the extreme, and followed another path, looking around until he found—

Bingo.

There was the hot spring, bubbling water, steam rising and rock formations – most of which were cracked or crumbling – all around three separate pools of crystal clear water.

He held his breath for a moment as he made his way down, dipping his hand in to check it wasn't boiling, poisoned, irradiated or all of the above. It was hotter than the baths he used to take, slightly on the edge of painful, but his skin adjusted to the sharp temperature change after a couple of moments of holding his hand under the water, and his skin was tinted lightly pink when he took his hand back but didn't hurt. He could see the bottom of the water, rocks and silt mostly, and there were a few steps to sit on around the edge.

It appeared perfect, so naturally he needed to give it a test drive, just to make sure it'd be to Clarke's liking.

An hour later he returned to camp with a spring in his step and his hair wet and tapped Clarke on the shoulder. "I found something, I need to show you."

She looked around, frowning in concern and it actually made his heart hurt a little. They'd been here so long that anything new rang alarm bells in both their heads, but louder in hers. Something new meant trouble, it meant pain and death and fire and flames, it didn't mean something warm and soothing. It was bad. "I'll call—"

He shook his head. "Just us," he said. "Come on, princess, I'm not gonna let anything happen to you."

She followed him after that, the two of them making their way along the path he'd memorised, Clarke talking constantly about things they needed to do and ways to prepare and how they'd need to work on the wall and he knew it was all important, it really was, but all he could think about was that not long from now she'd be relaxing in a bath and feeling better, and maybe she'd be a little more pleasant to be around, and a little happier.

"Here, it's just up here." He stepped over the sign he'd kicked into the bushes and wandered up the hill.

"Is this a road?" She cast her eyes over the horizon. "I can see the camp from here. This is a good vantage point for—"

He turned and cut her off with a curt, "Would you not?"

She blinked a couple of times at him. "Not what?"

"I want to show you something. If you wanna turn it into a sniper post or something when we're done, be my guest, but until then… don't ruin it."

Her eyes flickered and he wondered if he'd shown his hand, if she'd figured out that he wasn't leading her somewhere to show her something useful but rather for a surprise, for a _gift_ almost. Wasn't this what this was? He was giving her a gift.

He could still turn around and just _not_, right?

He didn't. "Come on." He strode up the hill and she followed behind him, looking across at the lodge.

"Can we—" She didn't finish her thought, for which he was eternally grateful, and instead followed him past the old house and down the hill towards the spring.

"Here," he said when they got there, and he heard her sharp little intake of breath, signalling that he'd impressed her. "It's a hot spring."

She moved over, a couple of feet away from the three pools. "Bellamy, this is fantastic," she breathed, looking around. He puffed up a little in pride and then… "We can bring our clothes down here, wash them in that one over there." She pointed and his eyes narrowed. "And we can use this one for cleaning weapons. We can bath in this one, heat is always better than—"

"_Really._"

She looked around at him in confusion. "What?"

"I bring you to a damn hot spring and all you can think about is ways to put it to use for the camp," he said.

Her face changed a little. _Shit._ "Oh, I…" She curled her lips in a little, holding them together with her teeth as she tried to keep her face straight. _Fuck_. "Was this… Bellamy, were you trying to be romantic?"

He stared at her for a moment because _no?_ And yet her choice to use the word _trying_ made his insides sting, like a wasp had gotten in there and laid a few thousand eggs in his stomach.

"It's a lovely gesture," she said. "I just… I think we should keep our relationship… professional! It's the wrong time to be starting anything, don't you think?"

She was still talking and he wished he could tune it out to a muted whining sound but he couldn't, all he could hear was that his attempt to do something nice for someone he occasionally deemed worthy of classing as a friend had backfired not only into her rejecting an advance he hadn't even made, but also into his _humiliation_ at her hands. She still hadn't stopped talking so he strode towards her and she took a step back, eyes widening like she thought he might kiss her or something.

"I just think it'd be better put to use for cleaning and— BELLAMY!"

He did not kiss her, instead he picked her up, slinging her over his shoulder and striding down towards the biggest and warmest pool of the three (he may have tested all three). "I was going to let you strip off before you gave it a go. I was even going to be a gentleman and walk away and leave you to it."

"Bellamy!" She smacked his back with the flats of her hands, but she wasn't genuinely trying to get him to let go of her, so he called that a win quietly in the privacy of his own head. "Put me down!"

"As you wish, princess!" He flipped her back off his shoulder and dropped her into the spring.

The resulting splash was, he thought, bigger than he'd anticipated her small frame creating and he got an impromptu shower for his trouble as she disappeared beneath the water, surfacing a moment later with a gasp of, "Hot!"

He folded his arms and looked down at her, lips quirking in amusement. "How's it feel, princess?"

"You are such an _ass!_" She stood up, making to climb out of the water and he blocked her path with his body.

"Just. Sit. In. The. Damn. Water," he growled at her and she faltered and sank back down, still fully clothed and watching him intently.

"Why?" she said.

He huffed at her. "Do you trust me?"

She didn't reply for a moment, which gave him at least forty seconds in which to be suitably offended by her silence, and then she said, "Yeah."

"Sit on one of the rocks, one of the ones where the water comes up to your chin," he said, "and just… close your damn eyes and turn that brain of yours off for a few minutes."

She licked her lips, like she was internally weighing if she _had_ five minutes to spare, then nodded and turned, not swimming but paddling a little, feet pushing her across the floor of the spring, and settled on one of the rocks, leaning her head back and closing her eyes. "Why am I doing this, again?"

"Because you hurt."

Her eyes flew open and she looked across at him. "I don't—"

He cut her off with a shake of his head. "I can see it on you," he said. "The way you hold yourself and the way you walk, the way you wrinkle your forehead up and rest your head on your hand when no one is looking, the way you rub your shoulders and arms and legs. You ache and you hurt and you need to _relax_ before you break something that might not be yours to break."

She swallowed hard and closed her eyes again, resting her head and moving her hands through the warm water. "I guess someone _was_ looking."

He shrugged and settled on one of the dry rocks, foot propped up and eyes on her. "Just enjoy the water for a bit, princess. You need it."

"How'd you find this place?" she said.

He didn't reply, not quite willing to admit he'd dedicated a month of his free time to trying to find her a natural bathtub. "Stumbled upon it running," he said. "Thought of you."

She let out a low sigh as the water worked its magic and sank down a little further. "Yeah?" She forced her eyes open and he moved closer, settling down right by her.

"Relax," he said. "I won't let you drown."

She looked up at him, blue eyes guarded but soft. "I know."

He smiled at her, just a little, and looked down at his foot. "Maybe we can rebuild the lodge, foundations seem okay."

She nodded, closing her eyes again. "Mmm… maybe not yet," she said.

He looked back at her. "Oh?" he said.

"I don't want to share this yet."

He didn't point out she was already sharing it, that they were both sitting here together. Maybe she wanted it all to herself, it _was_ a gift after all and it'd be her choice if she wanted to be the only one to enjoy it. "That's okay, you don't have to."

She smiled softly. "Aren't you going to get in too?"

He faltered and watched her for a moment, smiling when she couldn't see. "Yeah," he said. "Mind if I get undressed? I don't want to walk back in wet clothes."

"Nothing I haven't seen before," she mourned, a teasing edge to her voice, something he'd missed in all the stress. "Often and occasionally explicitly."

"Well, you should learn to knock." He stripped his shirt and pants off, folding them up nearby, but left his underwear on, and then he sank down into the water, a meter further down than her.

"Knock on a tent?" Her words were slurring a little with how relaxed she was and he smiled.

"I guess you just shouldn't come in then," he said. "Since you should knock before you do and there's nowhere to knock."

"You'd like that," she said as she drifted off, and he reached out, settling a hand on the back of her neck, keeping her head above water.

"No," he said. "I wouldn't."


End file.
